March 20
My Angel Is with You
When the army of Nebuchdnezzar took the people of Israel into captivity in Babylon, Jeremiah the prophet sent God’s message to them. He told them that they were taken captive for the sins they had committed before God. Jeremiah said: “When you reach Babylon you will be there many years, a long time — seven generations; after that I will bring you back from there in peace. And now in Babylon you will see gods of silver and gold and wood, carried shoulder high, to cast fear upon the nations. Take care that you yourselves do not become like these foreigners and let not such fear possess you. When you see the crowd before and behind worshiping them, say in your hearts, ‘You, Lord, are the one to be worshiped!’ For my angel is with you, and he will keep watch on you” (Baruch 6:1–6).
We are like exiles longing to return to Heaven, our true home. Our sinfulness leaves us vulnerable to the temptations of our culture. Yet our hearts call us back to the one true God. The angel of the Lord is with us, to keep watch over our hearts.
March 21
Angels in Mortal Combat
Abba Moses (330–405) was a reformed thief who went into the desert to do penance. Once, he found himself fighting an overpowering temptation. He implored Abba Isidore for help. Abba Isidore took him out onto the open plain and said, “Look toward the west.” Moses saw a horde of demons circling in the air and shrieking viciously. Then Isidore said, “Now look toward the east.” Abba Moses turned and saw a vast multitude of angels resplendent in glory. Abba Isidore said, “The Lord sends his angels to help us, while the demons fight against them. Those who are with us are greater than those who are against us.”74
The Psalmist prayed, “Come quickly to help me; Do not let my heart incline to evil, or yield to any sin” (Psalm 141:1, 4, 8). What a consolation to know that powerful angels aid our battle against temptation.
March 22
God Will Send Us His Angels
As Lent wears on, take solace in the wisdom of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, who was a spiritual counselor for thousands. He assured people that “God, whom we desire to see and hold before us, is always ready to come to our assistance. Always faithful to his promises and seeing us fighting valiantly, he will send us his angels to sustain us in the trial.”75 So take heart. Persevere in penance, in prayer, and in almsgiving. Live your Lent with faith-filled determination, knowing that you can grow in strength and holiness. Trust in the angels to lead you closer to God.
“The angels rejoice and celebrate with Christ over the return of the Lord’s sheep. He sought us on earth; let us seek Him in heaven.”
— Saint Peter Chrysologus
March 23
Saint Toribio of Mogrovejo (1538–1606)
Between Heaven and Earth
In a courtyard of the Museum of Salamanca, Spain, a stone carving by the Spanish sculptor Luis Salvador Carmona depicts The Miracle of Saint Toribio of Mogrovejo. As a young man, Toribio felt called to join the strictly cloistered Cistercian community. The statue shows the Virgin Mary and Saint Bernard, the founder of the Cistercians, appearing to Toribio. An angel, serving as the intermediary between heaven and earth, hands Toribio a college scholarship, a sign that he should serve God in the world rather than in the monastery. Toribio became a professor of law and a judge. Then, the king appointed him Archbishop of Lima, Peru. There, Toribio tirelessly defended the rights of the native people who were oppressed by the ruling Spanish upper class and largely ignored by the Church. Toribio was where God wanted him to be.
“Saints rise up from time to time in the Catholic Church like angels in disguise, and shed around them a light, as they walk on their way heavenward.”
— Blessed John Henry Newman76
March 24
Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero (1942–1980)
Saint Michael the Archangel and El Salvador
On this date in 1980, Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot to death while saying Mass in El Salvador during his country’s civil war. To everyone’s surprise, including the priests of his archdiocese, Romero had become an outspoken critic of the right-wing, militarist government. He spoke out for his people who were poor and powerless. The government supported assassinations and terrorist attacks against the people. To Romero’s shock and grief, his country was receiving no help. Not even the United States would intervene. In a homily, the archbishop promised his people that heaven would not forget El Salvador. Saint Michael the Archangel, he said, would help the powerless and the persecuted.
“Michael serves only God and bends to Jesus Christ and all who serve him. He has fought and stays with those who struggle to be faithful until once again all things will be subject to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God whose blood is testimony to our life.”
— Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero77
March 25
The Annunciation of the Lord
An Angel’s Reverence
We should look at the Annunciation from an angel’s point of view, suggests Catholic author Mike Aquilina. The Archangel Gabriel, he wrote, “showed Mary deference, as though he, the angel — archangel, in fact — was in awe of a humble Jewish woman who was hardly more than a girl.” Gabriel greeted her with reverence: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” This glorious and magnificent archangel was overwhelmed by Mary’s great holiness and beauty. She had been conceived free of sin. God had prepared her to be the mother for his only Son, Jesus. Mary agreed. The Word became flesh within her. The future of humanity shifted toward hope and heaven.78
“In the set noon of time shall one from heaven,
An angel fresh from looking upon God,
Descend before a woman, blessing her
With perfect benediction of pure love.”
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning
March 26
Angels in the Desert
In Anne Rice’s novel Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, angels comfort Jesus when he falls from a desert cliff during a sandstorm. Rice’s depiction of the Savior’s forty desert days moves beyond the Gospels. “I heard the flapping, the fluttering, the muffled
